The treatment of many diseases affecting hollow organs or other body lumens often requires direct surgical treatment of the wall of the organ. Tumors, fibroids, lesions and other conditions affecting the walls of hollow organs are generally treated surgically using tools that may be inserted into the organ, or which reach the surface of the organ from the outside. These tools may be used to deliver electric energy, heat or a chemical ablation compound to necrose the targeted tissue, or may simply be used to cut the diseased tissue from surrounding healthy tissue.
One difficulty associated with these procedures is that the walls of most hollow organs are not fixed firmly in place but are relatively free to move, flex and shift position. Thus, when a force is applied to such tissue, (e.g., by a cutting or ablating tool pressed thereagainst), the target area moves making it difficult to complete the operation. For example, during procedures to treat uterine fibroids such as myomectomies and myolysis, the fibroids as well as the uterine wall move around making it difficult to grasp or prevent movement of the affected tissue complicating and lengthening the procedure.
Various methods have been devised in an attempt to stabilize the uterus wall during surgery. Screw-like devices have been attached to the target tissue to retain it in place while another tool is used to ablate the tissue. However, these screw-like devices must be sufficiently small to fit through endoscopic or laparoscopic instruments such as trocars reaching the target tissue, and thus may not be able to grasp enough tissue to fully stabilize the target region. Manipulator devices of various kinds may be used to move the target organ, but generally these devices cannot provide stability to the entire organ, and the surgeon still has to face a target tissue which is difficult to grasp and hold.